There was a short documentary on TV last night about this (movies for men) which was very interesting, but too short. I think it was based on books by Philip Baker, which I've looked up, but they're too expensive for me. One pont that surprised me was that there were branches of these youth movements, in the pre-war period, in many other countries, including America, even UK. Also I looked up on Wiki and these movements seem to have been built on existing nationalist youth groups, going back even into the previous century. It was only in Hitler's time that they became obligatory. Does anyone have an interest in this, or can recommend affordable reading material?
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/21037-bye-bye-german-boy-scouts/ http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/8955-hitler-youth-in-the-concentration-camps/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitler-Youth-1933-45-Warrior/dp/184176874X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426702093&sr=8-1&keywords=hitler+youth
I'd recommend "Nazism 1919-1945: A Documentary Reader. Vol 2: State, Economy & Society" Edited by J Noakes & G Pridham which has a chapter on Youth & Education which obviously contains English translations of a lot of primary source material, and "Life in the Third Reich" Edited by Richard Bessel which has a chapter on 'Youth in the Third Reich' by Detlev Peukert. A cheap way of reading is to get them through your local library.
British Pathe http://www.britishpathe.com/workspaces/BritishPathe/Hitler-Youth http://www.britishpathe.com/video/4-000-boy-fascists/ http://www.britishpathe.com/video/italian-reel-torino-youth-camp-forum-mussolini/
One should see this in the prewar context and remember that there was in most countries a militarization of the youth movements .
Yes - that's what I thought, and they developed from the wave of nationalistic feelings in many countries which was fashionable at the turn of the century. What was the date of Land of Hope and Glory? 1902.
In Belgium,the catholic youth paraded before the bishops,giving the roman salute, but the socialist youth (the red falcons) also paraded in uniform and saluted with the clenched fist. The Boyscouts in Britain were militarised,resulting in a scission from those who wanted something more democratic .. The entry of the non German delegations at the start of the 1936 Olympic Games resembled on a military parade . Everyone was parading and saluting and everyone was ready to fly at the other's throat .Intolerance was ruling . In Belgium,socialists (and the others) had their own union,their own health service,their own hospitals,shops,pubs,football club,schools,brass band,youth movement...... And it was the same in other countries.
The difference was that membership of the Hitler Youth...the Hitler Jugend became compulsory from December 1 1936.Earlier,the Hitler Youth had paraded in front of Hitler,54000 strong at the September 1935 Nuremburg Nazi Rally under the leadership of the half American, Baldur von Schirach The League of German Girls.....the Bund Deutcher Madel was similarly founded,both organisations were formed from the various existing youth organisations. The progression of German youth was legislated such that the Nazi Party held a tight grip on the education of youth from the age of 10 until 21. Hitler had declared his plans for German youth.....A violently active,dominating brutal youth....that is what I am after.Youth must be indifferent to pain....I will have no intellectual training....Knowledge is ruin to my young men. Hitler, for the survival of his 1000 year Third Reich, saw his ideology depended on Germany's youth.
I agree with your view of Hitler's understanding of the nature and importance of his youth strategy. Thousands were swept up in it. There were some young people who, for whatever motive, chose to opt out such as the 'Swing Youth', or groups like the Edelweiss Pirates & the White Rose Group. While it seems Hitler had considerable success with the pre-war generation of young people, he had less success with those whose teenage years were lived out in the war years.
You are correct,having checked another source last night. On 1 December 1936,the Hitler Jugend was made a state agency and every young German was expected to belong to the organisation..looked on as the first decree........failure of any boy to join was looked on as a violation of civic responsibility. The second decree was passed in March 1939 and made service with the Jugend compulsory. Those who refused to serve were subject to criminal punishment. In addition to the dissent factions already mentioned, there were long standing youth organisations such as the Catholic Young Men's Association, the German Boy's Club,Socialist youth groups and as the Gestapo termed them,"the wild cliques",a multitude of youth gangs who were hostile to the Hitler Jugend and physically clashed with them....quite a number of the dissenters paid the supreme penalty when they became involved with "eastern connections".